NASHVILLE - Charles “Skip’’ Pitts, the longtime Memphis guitar player for Isaac Hayes whose distinctive sound helped define soul and make “Shaft’’ cool, has died. He was 65.

Tim Sampson, with the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, said Mr. Pitts died Tuesday in Memphis after a long struggle with cancer.

Mr. Pitts was responsible for the unforgettable wah-wah pedal guitar sound on Hayes’s “Theme from Shaft,’’ the ’70s film that remains a memorable moment in American popular culture, mostly due to the enduring popularity of the song. Mr. Pitts’ 1971 riff was angry and bristling with menace, capturing a dangerous vibe that transcended the screen and translated to the streets of a tense nation.

He also was responsible for the guitar line from The Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing.’’

Schooled by neighbor Bo Diddley while growing up in Washington, D.C., Mr. Pitts first recorded when he was 15 and had a long run in Memphis after moving there to join Hayes. He played with the deep-voiced soul singer for nearly four decades, worked as a session musician for Stax Records where some of America’s greatest music was made, and logged time with many significant soul and blues acts, including Al Green, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, and Albert King.

Most recently he appeared on Green’s “I Can’t Stop’’ and Cyndi Lauper’s “Memphis Blues.’’